Joined
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5 Posts
Hello All,
This first post is just a background, the next one has my questions.
At the end of 2014, being that I desperately wanted an Insight I ended up settling on a 2001 CVT, and soon after the CVT crapped out. Dealer wanted over $3k and every mechanic locally said I was better letting the dealer handle it. So instead I bought a Volt, then a guy ran a red light, and I had to say goodbye Volt. Thought I'd try another Insight, all the good ones in the SF Bay Area were over priced, so I checked craigslist ads in neighboring states and found one in Oregon for the half the price. It was in excellent mechanical shape, but it did have damage to the rear drivers quarter. I ended up catching the first flight out of SFO to PDX sometime in November 2015.
The car lived up to the ad so we drove to the DMV, exchanged cash and title, and went about our ways. From there I had the oil changed, stopped at McDonalds, got gas(which I didn't pump), made a few wrong turns then drove straight back home. I did stop somewhere for gas but I was impressed with the gas mileage.
Four months of driving the car over 200 miles daily as a courier, and things started to malfunction on this 15 year old car. The battery would charge and discharge sporadically, which meant immediate losses and gains in power. Then a couple months later, the brake and battery lights would come and go. The car would be fine for 3 weeks then the battery light would come on for a week and I'd end up getting stranded because my 12-volt would crap out. All of this was an experience or the IMA learning curve.
All-in-all this interfered with work, so my boss cut my work load which meant I couldn't exactly make enough to fix the problem either. By fix I mean get a new battery from BumbleBee.
So now Im not working and I charge my 12-volt at home once a week or as needed. By taking bits from this site, along with my actual experiences, I've actually learned how to live with it, but now i need a fix.
Why, because a few months ago I decided I would try to take this car across the US or on a road trip thru Mexico and Central America, and possibly have it shipped to South America, but only if I can trust the car again.
This first post is just a background, the next one has my questions.
At the end of 2014, being that I desperately wanted an Insight I ended up settling on a 2001 CVT, and soon after the CVT crapped out. Dealer wanted over $3k and every mechanic locally said I was better letting the dealer handle it. So instead I bought a Volt, then a guy ran a red light, and I had to say goodbye Volt. Thought I'd try another Insight, all the good ones in the SF Bay Area were over priced, so I checked craigslist ads in neighboring states and found one in Oregon for the half the price. It was in excellent mechanical shape, but it did have damage to the rear drivers quarter. I ended up catching the first flight out of SFO to PDX sometime in November 2015.
The car lived up to the ad so we drove to the DMV, exchanged cash and title, and went about our ways. From there I had the oil changed, stopped at McDonalds, got gas(which I didn't pump), made a few wrong turns then drove straight back home. I did stop somewhere for gas but I was impressed with the gas mileage.
Four months of driving the car over 200 miles daily as a courier, and things started to malfunction on this 15 year old car. The battery would charge and discharge sporadically, which meant immediate losses and gains in power. Then a couple months later, the brake and battery lights would come and go. The car would be fine for 3 weeks then the battery light would come on for a week and I'd end up getting stranded because my 12-volt would crap out. All of this was an experience or the IMA learning curve.
All-in-all this interfered with work, so my boss cut my work load which meant I couldn't exactly make enough to fix the problem either. By fix I mean get a new battery from BumbleBee.
So now Im not working and I charge my 12-volt at home once a week or as needed. By taking bits from this site, along with my actual experiences, I've actually learned how to live with it, but now i need a fix.
Why, because a few months ago I decided I would try to take this car across the US or on a road trip thru Mexico and Central America, and possibly have it shipped to South America, but only if I can trust the car again.
